One of the country’s go-to UFO researchers died Sunday after a period of declining health.

George D’Espard Fawcett III died at the age of 83.

The Lincolnton man may have been known as a quirky character around town, but in the world of UFO documentation, he was revered and respected.

A post on the Mutual UFO Network website paid tribute to Fawcett this week.

“The field of UFOlogy owes George a great debt of gratitude. Thank you, George, and may you rest in peace,” the website stated.

A biography comprised of Fawcett’s achievements was reposted from an original 2011 post.

According to the article, Fawcett investigated more than 1,200 UFO reports and read more than 700 books and 1,000 magazine articles on the subject.

Fawcett was 15 when he first found an interest in UFOs.

A newspaper headline, “Silver Balls Floating in Air Nazi’s Newest War Device,” detailed what people thought was a German weapon during World War II.

With his interest in UFOs piqued, Fawcett began tracking sightings and reports. He may have researched thousands of UFO reports, but Fawcett said in a 2006 interview with The Gazette that he’d only seen one UFO. That incident occurred in 1951, while he was studying at Lynchburg College in Virginia.

While on campus, Fawcett saw what looked like an orange globe moving up and down like a yo-yo on a string before it took off at a 45-degree angle.

No one else on campus reported seeing a UFO, but reports from nearby towns and throughout Virginia emerged soon after.

Fawcett maintained that what he saw was a UFO.

Aside from Fawcett’s books, articles and papers that followed, he had accomplishments and admirers.

The U.S. Army veteran was director of a YMCA in Florida before settling in Lincolnton.

Fawcett made an impact on many people, according to the Rev. Miles Smith who lead the funeral service Wednesday afternoon at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

“He was just a great man,” said Smith. “He was a man whose heart was open to the world.”

Fawcett was a member of St. Luke’s and sang in the church choir for years.

“He was a very spiritual man,” said Smith. “His religion made him open to all sorts of people and the strange possibility of UFOs.”

Many of Fawcett’s records were shipped to the Roswell Museum and Research Center as space in his home diminished. In 1998, he sent his 20,000-item Sauceriana Collection of scrapbooks, photographs of strange phenomena, bulletins, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and numerous books to the museum.

In the 2006 interview with The Gazette, Fawcett spoke about his life and his research of UFOs.

He valued his more than 60 years of collecting information on the topic.

“If I had to do my life over again, I’d do it again. I have no regrets,” he told The Gazette.

Smith said Fawcett’s gentle approach is what made him excel at his craft.

“He had a positive impact just by listening to people and respecting people,” said Smith.

Fawcett leaves behind his wife, Shirley, two children and two stepchildren.

You can reach reporter Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.